This invention relates to a waste heat recovery system for an internal combustion engine.
Efforts to decrease fuel consumption by increased consumption efficiency have been hampered by the need to reduce emissions. Another means for decreasing fuel consumption is by increasing the useful output of the engine.
The U.S. Pat. Nos. to Baker, 3,228,189; Johnson, 3,350,876 and Morgan et al, 3,830,062, disclose systems for using waste heat of an internal combustion engine to run a turbine to drive accessories. The British patent, 294,882, discloses a vapor cycle system for converting heat energy into mechanical work.
In the past it has been considered impractical to use a vapor cycle system wherein the binary coolant is passed through the internal combustion engine cooling system because of the high pressures that would be required in the engine cooling system.